Biodiversity Consultation Results

Creating Biodiversity Grasslands and Naturalised Grasslands in Dundee’s parks and open spaces

Background

During the first lockdown in spring 2020 Dundee City Council received feedback from local people who told us how they were enjoying the longer grass in our parks and open spaces, and the wildlife they were seeing as a result. An action in our Biodiversity plan also committed us to reviewing our grassland management. On the back of this, the Council identified 27 potential sites (view the maps here) to become biodiversity grasslands or naturalised grasslands in our parks and open spaces. Signs were erected at all locations explaining the intention to create longer grass that would be of benefit to biodiversity.

Following feedback, discussions with local people and the interest generated from these signs it was decided to launch a city-wide consultation to gauge the opinions of local communities across Dundee. The consultation was live from October 2020 until mid-January this year. It was mainly an online survey which was backed up by maps of the locations and further information to answer any potential questions. The survey was also available in a paper format to include those without the capability of accessing the internet.

The consultation was promoted through the press and online across the Council’s website and social media. Posters were displayed in park noticeboards and they were also shared amongst local people through existing networks.

At the time of the consultation the Council made a commitment to publicly share the results of the survey.

Consultation Results

Dundee City Council received 550 responses to the survey which consisted of 9 questions with 5 general questions and 4 detailed questions focussed on the 27 potential locations. As all of the questions were not mandatory, not everyone answered every one. This will have been due to a number of factors including respondents only answering questions about their local or favourite parks and greenspaces.